Bruce Pelz

Bruce Edward Pelz (August 11, 1936 – May 9, 2002) was a US

Early life

Pelz spent most of his childhood in New York State. He earned the rank of

In 1959 he moved to Los Angeles to study library science at the University of Southern California, and joined LASFS.^[2]

Fan career

Pelz served at least two terms as LASFS President ("Director", or later "Procedural Director") and was Treasurer for nearly a decade, shepherding the club to ownership of its own building, an idea originally proposed by Paul Turner.^[3] Even after he retired from that position, he remained active on the corporate Board of Directors, serving as Chairman and later as corporate treasurer ("Comptroller"). He was a respected elder statesman of the club until his death in 2002.

Pelz came into

Pelz also became an omniapan, joining all fannish amateur press associations ("APAs"; hence "apans"; hence "omniapans") then in existence^[1] — FAPA, SAPS, OMPA, and The Cult, and later two local APAs: APA-F (published weekly at the alternating meetings of the Fanoclasts and FIStFA in New York City) and APA-L (published weekly at LASFS and still ongoing). Even when a special "fractional" issue of APA-L was produced at a LASFS social event (a "Fanquet") without telling him, Pelz arrived with a fanzine to contribute, keeping his unbroken string. The only longer unbroken run of participation in APA-L is that of Fred Patten, who contributed every week until January 22, 2009, for 2280 issues.

Pelz spent a lifetime assembling one of the greatest privately held fanzine collections,^[1] which now is part of the J. Lloyd Eaton Collection at the University of California, Riverside.^[4]

Costume

Pelz also took part in costume competitions and won several prizes at world and regional conventions, including

• Heavy Trooper (from The Dragon Masters by Jack Vance), Westercon, 1963 and again at Worldcon, 1968
• Fafhrd (with Ted Johnstone as the Gray Mouser and Dian as
  Ningauble of the Seven Eyes, from Fritz Leiber's Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser stories), Worldcon
  , 1963
• Gorice of Carce (from The Worm Ouroboros, with his first wife Dian as Lady Sriva), Westercon 1965 and again at Worldcon, 1970.
• The Fat Fury (from Herbie Popnecker comics, with Dian as Ticklepuss), Westercon, 1966
• Chun the Unavoidable (from The Dying Earth by Jack Vance), Worldcon, 1966
• Barquentine (from Titus Groan), Westercon, 1967
• Countess Gertrude (from Titus Groan by Mervyn Peake), Worldcon, 1968
• Nick van Rijn (from Poul Anderson's Polesotechnic League stories), Westercon, 1978

Other

Pelz was also active in filk music in the 1960s and early 1970s. He wrote several classic folksongs, including musical settings for 3 poems from Silverlock by John Myers Myers, and published The Filksong Manual, originally in four slim volumes, later re-issued as a single volume with added material.

In later life, Pelz was best known for his activities in organizing

He was Fan Guest of Honor of the 38th World Science Fiction Convention in Boston in 1980.^[5] Pelz also lent his time and expertise to conventions held in other cities, even outside of North America. His leadership was instrumental in rescuing the ill-fated 1966 Westercon, Westercon XIX, in San Diego. For many years he drove a car with the license plate "SMOF 2".

Pelz also found time for other projects, including the Fantasy Showcase Tarot.^[7] He arranged for 78 artists to paint one Tarot card each, and arranged for the deck to be published. It is still available for sale. The project grew to include four non-standard cards, and several of the original artists had to be replaced because the promised paintings were never delivered, so the list of artists eventually grew to nearly 100.

Death

Pelz suffered a pulmonary embolism and died at a Los Angeles area hospital on May 9, 2002.^[8]

References